On Wednesday, the 2017-2018 Elaine Gold Launch Pad fellows were at the CFDA to pitch their Sprint presentations to the advisory board with criteria based on clarity of idea and vision tested, potential of idea, and viability of use and purpose of funds requested.

The fellows are Alexis Isabel; Emily Adams Bode of Bode; Lucy Jones of Ffora; Ali Rose, Jack Burns, and Mark Richardson of Genusee; Maria Kazakova and Burkindy of Jahnkoy, and Jameel Mohammed of Khiry, and the advisors were impressed with their presentations.

“It is inspiring to watch the designers use the opportunity to focus their talents; the platform creates a space for them to feel supported,” said Greg Armas of Assembly New York.

“Working with the Launch Pad designers has been a rewarding experience for us at Fjord and Accenture,” said John Jones of Fjord. “The designers in the Launch Pad program have made a great deal of progress in their relatively short time.”

Fjord’s Claudia Gorelick added, “They have changed direction to find their true customer focus, improved products, increased sales, and identified issues, which have prevented them from scaling.”

The Sprint presentations are an opportunity for the designers to spotlight a meaningful idea prototype with request towards micro funding to place the ideas into action. Each designer came with a different focus:

• Alexis Isabel’s focus was on website re-design and securing a physical presence.
• Emily Adams Bode requested funding to help her scale and to build brand assets towards an online archive educating users on her materials.
• Lucy Jones asked for funding for product beta testing.
• Ali Rose, Jack Burns, and Mark Richardson came up with a marketing plan for community building collaborations and crowd funding.
• Maria Kazakova plans to split funds between business readiness and the development of Messenjah, an educational platform.
• Jameel Mohammed requested funding to support his marketing plans and fall/winter 2018 samples.

CFDA distributed $60,000 for this milestone.

“During our Sprint presentations we had the opportunity to reflect and showcase how we positioned our learnings since the start of the program into tangible ideas that will propel our businesses forward,” said Lucy Jones. “It was exciting to rapidly prototype a number of concepts based on our discoveries within a community that offered open dialogue and nurturing feedback. I feel incredibly honored to have presented to such a thoughtful and insightful panel and know that I feel more confident with my direction. I’m excited for the next steps!”

Jameel Mohammed added the most valuable thing he took away from the presentation was “that authenticity is everything. And the way you communicate that authentic vision to customers and the broader industry is crucial to whether your vision will be understood or rejected.”

“We were so impressed by the designers and their presentations in this inaugural group,” said Sebastien Park of IDEO.  “They have come so far incorporating learnings from the mentors and building on the resources of both the CFDA and Accessories Council; Launch Pad is a unique opportunity for the designers to grow as they set out to build a successful business around their vision for the future of the industry.

IDEO’s Michelle Tulac added, “At IDEO, we’re excited to continually push the craft of design in our studio and the creative community, so we’re thrilled to support the designers’ as they move forward in their creative and business pursuits!”

Learn more about the CFDA/Accessories Council Elaine Gold Launch Pad HERE.